Our Founder

His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa is a world-renowned humanitarian, author, environmentalist, and champion of gender equality.

Recipient of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Award for his cross-border humanitarian work and India’s Green Hero Award for his work in sustainable development, the Gyalwang Drukpa is recognized as the preeminent voice for modern issues now facing the Himalayas.

The Gyalwang Drukpa is head of the Buddhist Drukpa Lineage, originating from the scholar-saint Naropa who founded Indian Buddhism over a thousand years ago. Drukpa Buddhism is steeped in celebrating diversity and active community service and has over 30 million followers worldwide.

The Gyalwang Drukpa initiated the Live to Love movement, a secular philosophy that encourages communities to use kindness and wisdom to heal the modern world’s challenges, and to celebrate diversity of faiths, cultures, and sexual orientation. Live to Love International is the resulting global network of non-profit organizations focused on those goals, pioneering multiple local and cross-border projects throughout the Himalayas and beyond.

Our Ambassadors

Aamir Khan – Global AmbassadorAamir Khan is a leading Indian film actor, director and producer. He is the recipient of four National Film Awards, seven Filmfare Awards and was honored by the Government of India with the Padma Shri in 2003 and Padma Bhushan in 2010. Khan starred in 3 Idiots, the highest grossing Bollywood film of all times, which featured Live to Love’s Druk Pema Karpo School in Ladakh.

After Ladakh was struck by a destructive cloudburst, he immediately visited Ladakh to help raise awareness of the disaster, to help revive Ladakh’s tourism industry and provide hope to the children of the Druk Pema Karpo School.

Susan Sarandon – Messenger of LightSusan Saradon is an Academy Award and BAFTA Award winner best known for her humanitarian work. Sarandon received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Stockholm International Film Festival, was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame, received the Outstanding Artistic Life Award for her Outstanding Contribution to World Cinema at the Shanghai International Film Festival, the Goldene Kamera international lifetime achievement award and was invited to inaugurate the 44th International Film Festival of India.

After the historic earthquakes of Nepal, Susan Sarandon worked with Live to Love and its on-ground partners, the Kung Fu Nuns, to provide relief aid to isolated regions. Sarandon also inaugurated the first of two-hundred “Live to Love Homes” being built across Ramkot.

Michelle Yeoh – Global AmbassadorTan Sri Michelle Yeoh is a Malaysian actress best known for performing her own stunts. Yeoh was named by People Magazine as one of the Most Beautiful People in the World. She is best known for her roles in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, and the multiple Academy Award winning movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress.

Michelle Yeoh also produced Pad Yatra: A Green Odyssey that highlights the work of Live to Love in the Himalayas. Yeoh was in Nepal during the devastating earthquakes and she was so moved by the kindness of Nepalis during the aftermath that she joined Live to Love’s relief effort visited the hardest hit villages providing aid and inspiration. Yeoh spent much of her effort lifting heavy sacks of supplies as well as inspiring survivors to stay strong and courageous.